Author and friend Karina Harris has invited me to participate in a blog hop called "The Next Big Thing” (TNBT). It consists of 10 questions about an author’s current WIP (work in progress.) Here’s the plan:
A. Answer the ten TNBT questions listed below about your current WIP.
B. Tag five other writers and link their blogs so we can all hop over and read their answers.
Question #1. What is the title of your book/WIP?
My current work in progress is titled Horrible Hal of Halitosis. This early chapter book is a fairytale about two princes who fight constantly until they have to team up to rid their kingdom of a dragon. They do this not by fighting, but by helping Hal find true love. The dragon enchants their land with a beautiful gift for their help.
Question #2: Where did the idea for the book come from?
Reading before bedtime is a fun ritual at our house. One evening I was busy, so my husband took over and made up stories. Then he called me in for a turn. After some cajoling, I sat down and made one up. It was a lot of fun! I acted like I had coconuts in my hands and made horse-hoof sounds (yes, like Monty Python’s Quest for the Holy Grail). Clompity, clompity, clomp!
I wrote it down and read it at school visits. Every children’s author should have a test-audience like that! Their feedback was either laughter at appropriate times, blank looks, or contented sighs. They, and my critique partner, helped me get the story to the place it is now. Almost ready! Any day now! I promise!
Question #3: What genre would your book fall under?
As my sons grow, so does my intended audience. My stories mature with my boys.
Book #1, Sleep My Child, was written to be read to children at bedtime to babies through early grade-school children. “Drift into the fairyland deep in your dreams.”
Book #2, Breakfast if for the Birds, is for early readers in the first through third grades.
It is under contract with 4RV Publishing and scheduled for release in the fall of 2013. This illustrated reader compares what animals and insects eat with human meals and the humorous ways their mothers convince them to eat.
Book #3, Horrible Hal of Halitosis, is an early chapter book for readers in the third through fifth grades.
Can you tell my stories are fueled by my children? My boys wear me out (GO TO SLEEP!) and are picky eaters who constantly fight!
Question #4: Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?
What a fun idea! Mine would all be cartoons, of course, so voices would be a blast to choose! The king in Horrible Hal is based upon my husband, so Gerard Butler would be the ideal choice. They’re so much alike! (Yay me, right?) If my hubby only had that accent.
The queen is based on me, so she would be hard to choose! She is small, near-sighted before glasses were available, and evil if you cross her. How about Belle from Beauty and the Beast after she has aged twenty years and smoked for a few?! She likes books, and has the hutzpah to love a beast. The smoking would add roughness to her voice, I think.
The boys would have to be mischievous but lovable, like my little maniacs. Maybe Phineas and Ferb’s voices!
The dragon must be voiced by Ian McShane. What a great accent!
His lady-love, the dragon damsel named Couldens, should be Kirstie Alley. Sweet and sassy with some grit in her voice.
Question #5: What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
ONE SENTENCE?! Okay. Are you ready for the mother of all run-ons?
Princes Leopold and Edwin are bored knights-in-training who don’t get along, but have to team up to rid their kingdom of a bad-breathed, fire-breathing dragon looking for love.
Question #6: Is your book published or represented?
Horrible Hal of Halitosis is currently a work in progress. I think I might use it as an experiment, though. Self-published authors are making tsunami-sized waves in the industry right now. These are writers of young adult and adult novels, but I want to see what the children’s market is like. My plan is to illustrate and possibly animate this story. It’s possible with these fancy e-readers! I just have to figure out how to do it!
Question #7: How long did it take you to write?
I hate to admit this, but my stories often take years to finish. My schedule is pretty tight and my writing work-ethic stinks. I have a habit of taking on all kinds of ridiculous projects and I have returned to college as a Chemistry and Physics major. This fall, both boys will be in school all day, but I still won’t have much free time.
Question #8: What other books within your genre would you compare it to?
We read lots of books, but I’ve seen nothing like Horrible Hal. I find that exciting!
Question #9: Which authors inspired you to write this book?
Kate DiCamillo’s the Tale of Despereaux, Monty Python’s Quest for the Holy Grail, and a storyteller at a renaissance fair all flit through my mind from time to time when I’m writing this story. Seriously, this story is different.
Question #10: Tell us anything else that might pique our interest in your book.
Horrible Hal of Halitosis is a tale with a non-preachy moral. It subtly shows problem-solving with nonviolent methods. Even though the princes are trained knights who are bored in their time of peace, they do not resort to attacking the fearsome dragon who terrorizes their countryside. Instead, they ask him what he wants and help him find it. Everyone lives happily ever after and the land is magically blessed as the dragons fly off into the sunset.
Comments are appreciated! Let me know what you think.
Tag, you're it:
Cathy Givans, Fiction
Wayne Harris-Wyrick, Children's
Angie Stanton, Young Adult
Harry Gilleland, Historical Fiction
Check out the blue links above to get to know some great authors!
Eyvonna Rains
A. Answer the ten TNBT questions listed below about your current WIP.
B. Tag five other writers and link their blogs so we can all hop over and read their answers.
Question #1. What is the title of your book/WIP?
My current work in progress is titled Horrible Hal of Halitosis. This early chapter book is a fairytale about two princes who fight constantly until they have to team up to rid their kingdom of a dragon. They do this not by fighting, but by helping Hal find true love. The dragon enchants their land with a beautiful gift for their help.
Question #2: Where did the idea for the book come from?
Reading before bedtime is a fun ritual at our house. One evening I was busy, so my husband took over and made up stories. Then he called me in for a turn. After some cajoling, I sat down and made one up. It was a lot of fun! I acted like I had coconuts in my hands and made horse-hoof sounds (yes, like Monty Python’s Quest for the Holy Grail). Clompity, clompity, clomp!
I wrote it down and read it at school visits. Every children’s author should have a test-audience like that! Their feedback was either laughter at appropriate times, blank looks, or contented sighs. They, and my critique partner, helped me get the story to the place it is now. Almost ready! Any day now! I promise!
Question #3: What genre would your book fall under?
As my sons grow, so does my intended audience. My stories mature with my boys.
Book #1, Sleep My Child, was written to be read to children at bedtime to babies through early grade-school children. “Drift into the fairyland deep in your dreams.”
Book #2, Breakfast if for the Birds, is for early readers in the first through third grades.
It is under contract with 4RV Publishing and scheduled for release in the fall of 2013. This illustrated reader compares what animals and insects eat with human meals and the humorous ways their mothers convince them to eat.
Book #3, Horrible Hal of Halitosis, is an early chapter book for readers in the third through fifth grades.
Can you tell my stories are fueled by my children? My boys wear me out (GO TO SLEEP!) and are picky eaters who constantly fight!
Question #4: Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?
What a fun idea! Mine would all be cartoons, of course, so voices would be a blast to choose! The king in Horrible Hal is based upon my husband, so Gerard Butler would be the ideal choice. They’re so much alike! (Yay me, right?) If my hubby only had that accent.
The queen is based on me, so she would be hard to choose! She is small, near-sighted before glasses were available, and evil if you cross her. How about Belle from Beauty and the Beast after she has aged twenty years and smoked for a few?! She likes books, and has the hutzpah to love a beast. The smoking would add roughness to her voice, I think.
The boys would have to be mischievous but lovable, like my little maniacs. Maybe Phineas and Ferb’s voices!
The dragon must be voiced by Ian McShane. What a great accent!
His lady-love, the dragon damsel named Couldens, should be Kirstie Alley. Sweet and sassy with some grit in her voice.
Question #5: What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
ONE SENTENCE?! Okay. Are you ready for the mother of all run-ons?
Princes Leopold and Edwin are bored knights-in-training who don’t get along, but have to team up to rid their kingdom of a bad-breathed, fire-breathing dragon looking for love.
Question #6: Is your book published or represented?
Horrible Hal of Halitosis is currently a work in progress. I think I might use it as an experiment, though. Self-published authors are making tsunami-sized waves in the industry right now. These are writers of young adult and adult novels, but I want to see what the children’s market is like. My plan is to illustrate and possibly animate this story. It’s possible with these fancy e-readers! I just have to figure out how to do it!
Question #7: How long did it take you to write?
I hate to admit this, but my stories often take years to finish. My schedule is pretty tight and my writing work-ethic stinks. I have a habit of taking on all kinds of ridiculous projects and I have returned to college as a Chemistry and Physics major. This fall, both boys will be in school all day, but I still won’t have much free time.
Question #8: What other books within your genre would you compare it to?
We read lots of books, but I’ve seen nothing like Horrible Hal. I find that exciting!
Question #9: Which authors inspired you to write this book?
Kate DiCamillo’s the Tale of Despereaux, Monty Python’s Quest for the Holy Grail, and a storyteller at a renaissance fair all flit through my mind from time to time when I’m writing this story. Seriously, this story is different.
Question #10: Tell us anything else that might pique our interest in your book.
Horrible Hal of Halitosis is a tale with a non-preachy moral. It subtly shows problem-solving with nonviolent methods. Even though the princes are trained knights who are bored in their time of peace, they do not resort to attacking the fearsome dragon who terrorizes their countryside. Instead, they ask him what he wants and help him find it. Everyone lives happily ever after and the land is magically blessed as the dragons fly off into the sunset.
Comments are appreciated! Let me know what you think.
Tag, you're it:
Cathy Givans, Fiction
Wayne Harris-Wyrick, Children's
Angie Stanton, Young Adult
Harry Gilleland, Historical Fiction
Check out the blue links above to get to know some great authors!
Eyvonna Rains
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